Two Hornets Set to Return from Injury

The Charlotte Hornets will get a couple of key pieces to its bench back for tonight's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder; Kelly Oubre Jr. and Nick Richards.

Prior to missing Tuesday's game against Golden State, Oubre hadn't missed a single game all year and had been a major key on the offensive end while LaMelo Ball and Gordon Hayward were sidelined. In 34 games this season, Oubre is averaging 20.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 42% from the floor and 31% from three-point range.

As for Richards, he missed the last two games with a right ankle sprain. Although he will be available for tonight's game, head coach Steve Clifford plans on taking a longer look at 2022 first-round draft Mark Williams, who has logged meaningful minutes since Richards has been out of the lineup.

"I’m going to play Mark (Williams) for a bit here, though. I like the way he played. Nick’s going to be a big part of things going forward. We’ll see how he feels. He won’t be 100 percent. Mark’s the only guy that we have – everybody else has gotten a good, fair chance to play… and Mark has not. Mark’s played two good, solid games. Tonight is tougher because of the way (the Thunder) play. So maybe they’ll both play, but Mark is going to be the backup, the primary backup for tonight. To me, they’re both kind of developing players. When you have a roster of a lot of younger players, you try to do both - you want to try to develop them and win as many games as we can. And we’re in a place where we need to win. But we’ve got to see. (Mark) played well both games. Second half at Golden State he was very good, and both halves that he played at Portland. It’s not easy. We have a lot of guys at that position. Nick’s going to be a part of things. I like the way he plays. He’s done a good job. But I also want to see what Mark can bring.”

The Hornets and Thunder tip-off at 7 p.m. EST.

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